6 Paths of Hell
by Easily Forgotten
Summary: Six, the incomplete, demonic number. There were six steps in the path to hell, a path Niou gladly walked down for Yagyuu. Platinum. Written for the Secret Santa Fic Exchange.
1. The First Step

_**Fic written for the Pointless but Original Talking Forum Secret Santa Fic Exchange.**_  
**Request Number:** 10  
**Pairing/Groups:** Perfect Pair, Tango Pair, Platinum Pair  
**Squicks/Turn Offs in Fic:** Smut/Lemon  
**Interests in Fic:** Something not dull. Some romance, maybe; angst or humor.  
**Gen/Het/Slash/Smut/None/All-of-the-above?: **Gen, het, and slash.  
**Request: **Something...angsty, but with a good ending. Perfect, Platinum, Silver, or Emerald pair; or RyoSaku, KiriAn, or Kirisaku. It doesn't actually have to be romance if the writer doesn't want it to be. Could be some friendship, like in one of the teams. Yeah...and in the Prince of Tennis fandom, obviously.  
**A/N//Message to receiver:**

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Peri-chan! Angst isn't my specialty unfortunately, but I did my best! I hope it's okay. =D

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Sometimes, Niou wished he had never met Yagyuu. Things would have been simpler, less emotional, if the boy weren't around. Because, if he had never met Yagyuu, he would have never known the feeling of emptiness that lurked in his mind whenever the gleam from the Gentleman's glasses wasn't around.

He really had no one else to blame but himself. After all, _he_ was the one who scouted Yagyuu. _He _was the one who convinced the former golfer to join the tennis team. Of course, he could only regret his own actions.

Yagyuu made him weak- dependent to the point where he was a lost child when Yagyuu was gone. That's why Niou hated him. If he weren't around, Niou could have continued on, being blissfully ignorant of the fact that he was an unfinished doll, abandoned on a dusty shelf, missing his other half. Missing Yagyuu. Niou was once a nationally ranked singles player. Strange how, after Yagyuu joined, he never won another official singles match. Yet he, no, _they_ dominated doubles matches.

Niou wished, every so often he wished, that he had never met Yagyuu; right before he wished he had never even imagined a life without Yagyuu. Life without him was really no life at all. No one could live with half a soul.

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_**Author's Note: Ummmm. Yeah. Part one of six in a series of connected oneshots. I owe an extra special thanks to Rea/Sweet Obsidian Rain and Anne/Apple Snapple for bugging them about my fic for quite awhile. More thanks to everyone who read through this chapter for me, it's the first time I've actually had a beta, and I think I went overboard, so here's to you all, Awin-chan, Sweet Obsidian Rain, Apple Snapple, The Night Owl is Addicted, and Eternal .Angel. =D I love you all~**_


	2. A Rocky Path

Niou Masaharu wasn't a coward. He wasn't the sort to run away from a fight; if anything, he was the person who moved it into action. He was a master at provocation, constantly pushing people past their tolerance, but never so far that they couldn't recover. He was an instigator, so he found it unnatural how every move Yagyuu made seemed to goad him out of his protective, oblivious shell. Only weaklings hid behind blockades, but for Niou, the barrier was the only thing keeping him from realizing how afraid he truly was.

He wasn't afraid of heights, or spiders, or even death like many other people were. What Niou feared most was ruining his carefully orchestrated life by confessing to Yagyuu and scaring him away. He had only just come to terms with his desperate feelings of longing for the bespectacled boy and they scared him. Why Yagyuu? Why did it have to be Yagyuu of all people? If it had been a girl, Niou could have made her fall for him with ease, but not Yagyuu. The Gentleman was a proper, polite boy who was… well, a boy. If he were a proper and polite girl, things would have been okay.

Niou didn't give a damn what society thought, he was a rebel. If someone didn't like the fact that he preferred boys to girls, then too bad for them. Yagyuu on the other hand, was different. His family was a proud, more traditional sort of family. If their straight, upstanding son suddenly went… curved, they'd be less than thrilled and Yagyuu didn't seem to be the type that would be willing disappoint his parents. Even if, by some chance, both the Trickster and the Gentleman had mutual feelings, Niou was convinced that Yagyuu would reject him anyway, just for his family's sake. It would be natural to be scared if you knew you would be rejected no matter what, right?

"_Excuses, excuses, you coward!"_ Niou's conscience was always relentless in its torment. Niou Masaharu was _not_ a coward dammit! He wasn't! Screw what the other half of his mind said! What did it know anyway? "_Everything, you moron," _it would reply to his unspoken questions. _"I'm you, remember? Or are you such a scaredy cat that your fears are clogging up the rest of your brain's functions and you forgot?" _He couldn't, no, he _wouldn't _subject himself to the humiliation of getting rejected, especially when he could predict its coming. _"Where did the confidence of Rikkai Dai's Trickster go? How do you know for a fact that he'll reject you? You may cosplay as Yagyuu, but you still aren't him." _What did that incessant voice want? Why couldn't it just leave him alone? _"I __**want**__ you to confess. I __**want**__ you to stop being such a ninny. Screw the rules, right Niou? Isn't that what you do? Screw what society thinks. Screw what Yagyuu's family thinks. What do __**you**__ want?" _Him. That's all Niou wanted. He just wanted Yagyuu to be his, forever. _"So, what are you still doing arguing with your own conscience? Move dammit!"_ He may have been a little crazy, but oh well he'd _have_ to be crazy in order to work up the courage to confess. Screw society and its views on love! The voice in his head was right! Who cares if he was insane? (As he would have to be for listening to a voice in his head) He would do it! He would seek out and confess to Yagyuu right now, come what may.

* * *

…Good things come to those who wait, but misfortune befalls those who hesitate: a lesson Niou only learned when he stumbled upon Yagyuu, _his_ Yagyuu, kissing Oshitari Yuushi behind the tennis courts. So much for Yagyuu rejecting a boy for his family's sake.

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**_Author's Note: Well, part two of six it out~ More thanks to Rea and Anne because, well, they deserve it. And another special thanks to my betas for this chapter: Awin-chan, Eternal .Angel, and Apple Snapple. I didn't go quite as overboard this chapter. =D And anyone who can offer some constructive criticism would be love._**


	3. The Road is Turning

He was right there. He had been so close, so easy to grab, but he just slipped through the cracks of Niou's outstretched hands. Why Oshitari? Why did Yagyuu have to pick Oshitari over him?

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"Get out of my way you lousy freshmen."

"Crap! Run!" hissed one of the freshmen to his friend. "No one wants to mess with a pissed-off Niou Masaharu."

"Who said I was pissed?" The freshman, caught off-guard could feel his throat clench under Niou's icy stare.

"I asked you who! Answer when I ask you something you pathetic little bastard!" The wall groaned under the weight of the freshman that was slammed against it.

"Whoa, cool it Niou. It's just a freshman."

"Shut it Marui."

"Well, I see _someone_ is going through that time of the month," replied the redhead.

"The time where I punch you in the face?"

Marui tugged on the sleeve of his unwilling companion trying to coax him out of the hallway into a more secluded area, free from the prying eyes of schoolgirls and petrified freshmen. He ended up dragging the boy to the tennis clubroom.

"I know it's a stupid question but, are you okay Niou?"

"I'm fine. Just fine."

"My genius can see through your trickery. You may like to scare freshmen… and everyone else for that matter, but you don't randomly start screeching at people like you're some kind of possessed banshee."

"I said I'm fine!"

Damn Niou and his damn pride. He just couldn't admit that something was bugging him could he? Or maybe it was something big, really big, something that he didn't know how to deal with himself, but he couldn't just ask someone for help either.

"Fine. If you say you're fine, then you're fine. Just cool your head then, the showers here aren't just for decoration. Hell, you might even save the lives of a few clumsy underclassmen this way."

"Since when did you start caring about the underclassmen?" smirked Niou, but that didn't stop him from stripping and stepping beneath the shower's spray, his friend's presence all but forgotten.

The water was warm. It was weird, usually the showers would start off freezing anyone who dared to turn them on. Or, if they were feeling particularly malicious, or if someone decided to try and be a smartass about things and blast the water on the hottest setting before stepping in, they'd burn their victim instead. Had the Trickster sunk so low that even the showers pitied him? Yagyuu…

Why did he go off with Oshitari? It didn't make any sense! When did he even get a chance to _talk_ to that stupid Hyoutei Regular? What was wrong with at dating someone from Rikkai Dai at least? If he were dating someone from Rikkai Dai, Niou would be able to blackmail him, scare him, at least be able to do _something_ to get him away from Yagyuu.

Oshitari should have just stayed among Hyoutei folk. What right did he have to mess with the affairs of Rikkai Dai? He should date his own damn doubles partner instead of stealing someone else's. He didn't love Yagyuu. There was no way he could. He didn't even _know_ him, not the way Niou did at least. Oshitari could never mimic Yagyuu the way Niou could he didn't have the skill or the knowledge to do so. And speaking of knowledge, he was probably just using Yagyuu to get inside information on Rikkai Dai! There was no way a guy like that could have pure motives.

"What the hell!" cursed Niou, his fist slamming into a tiled wall. He knew he was spouting a bunch of crap. Damn him! That fucking Oshitari Yuushi! Did Yagyuu honestly think that that blue-haired kid was better than he was? Why Oshitari? _Why?_ Why not him? Why…

"I _hate_ you Oshitari Yuushi!" _I hate you for stealing Yagyuu from me.

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**Author's Note: Yeah, this is the only chapter Marui appears in, though he gets what's going on now, he doesn't share his thoughts with anyone else. XD I'd really like to update this sooner (since I have the next chapter done) but it feels like a waste to update when my fic is still on the front page. I still love you Rea and Anne~ And thanks to Eternal .Angel and Apple Snapple for beta-ing.**  
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	4. It Goes Over a Hill

He didn't _mean_ to do it. Really, he didn't. It just sort of… happened, but damn, it felt good.

To outsiders it seemed like an ordinary practice match, but the Rikkai Dai tennis players knew better. Niou was losing to Yagyuu, badly. While losing to Yagyuu was not uncommon, the two were evenly matched in terms of skill, but losing with a score of one game to five was. Niou had other things on his mind at the time, like Oshitari Yuushi and Yagyuu.

The two of them together, it was just wrong and it pissed Niou off, but Marui had warned him about attacking freshmen, so the only place to vent his anger was on the tennis courts. Each ball was imbued with Niou's frustration making them more forceful than usual, but less controlled and, consequently, more likely to go out. His returns were sluggish, his swings wide, it was too amateurish for a Rikkai Dai Regular. He only won the first game because he got lucky, Yagyuu hadn't been expecting such awkward hits.

"Match point! Yagyuu to serve!"

A clean, fast serve, typical of the Gentleman, was smashed back by an uncharacteristically wild shot from the Trickster. Back and forth, back and forth, calculated hits in a rally with frenzied returns, until a chance ball changed the fate of the game. Yagyuu tried to lob it over his doubles partner who had come to the net, but the silver-haired boy jumped back for a smash. In mid-air, the ball changed into the face of Hyoutei's Oshitari Yuushi. The bastard needed to die, even if it was just a figment of Niou's imagination, so he smashed the ball using every ounce of his strength, not caring where it ended up.

It crashed into the space a few feet in front of Yagyuu who tried to return it, but the angle was too steep and the ball careened across his face, shattering his glasses. The shards scattered across the court and blood trickled down Yagyuu's ghostly face.

Niou raced across the court and hopped over the net to the injured boys side. "Yagyuu! Yagyuu! Are you okay? Oh shit, oh shit! Did you get glass into your eyes? Dammit, we need to get you to the infirmary. Come on, grab my arm, don't open your eyes until we know where the glass is."

As the pair traversed the campus Niou became acutely aware of the fact that he never apologized to Yagyuu. He could have blinded the boy, the least he could do was say sorry. But as he thought about it, he realized that he didn't regret hurting his friend. Even if Yagyuu was blinded and would never be able to see again, at least he would never be able to look at Oshitari again.

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**_Author's Note: Sorry for a late update today, I was sucked in by a cleaning frenzy. I'm only posting now because I snuck on the computer. Thanks again Rea and Anne as well as Eternal .Angel and Apple Snapple for beta-ing._**


	5. The Decline

Who would have thought that one accident would change so much? The splintered glass incident changed more than Yagyuu's ability to see, it shifted the balance of power between his mischievous doubles partner and himself. Niou discovered something that day. He tasted the power of pain and threw away his humanity. If Oshitari could steal Yagyuu away, out of Niou's reach, then Niou could break the Gentleman and drag him down to the depths of hell. And clueless Yagyuu, blind and dependant, would obviously lean on his best friend for support, never suspecting that the troublemaker had a sadistic demon whispering in his ears. The lock on Pandora's box was crushed, and the lid flung open. That which should not have been opened was released and once freed, it could not be locked away again.

* * *

"Niou-kun, I'm getting tired of this, where are you?"

"I'm right over hear, Yagyuu. Consider this training."

Yagyuu groped into the darkness searching for the slippery bastard. "I would prefer it if you just helped me walk home without this nonsense."

"We can't waste a perfectly good opportunity to train your hearing. Take advantage of your situation Hi-ro-shi-ku-n."

Even with his eyes wrapped in bandages, Yagyuu could practically see the smirk playing on Niou's lips. That bastard. He could at least show _some_ remorse for practically blinding his friend. The doctor said that Yagyuu's eyes would be fine after some time, but still, having to depend so much on someone else was unsettling.

However much it bothered Yagyuu, Niou didn't care. He was having too much fun watching the usually composed youth trip over his own feet. He was so vulnerable this way, so easy to manipulate… The power was intoxicating.

With easy steps the Trickster maneuvered around a tree, living up to his name as he coaxed his crippled friend towards a tree branch and laughing when the boy crashed.

"Niou-kun!"

"I didn't know you liked trees so much Yagyuu."

Niou was too amused and it was starting to grate against Yagyuu's last nerve. "Fine. If you don't want to help me, I'll call someone else." He fumbled around in his school bag searching for the smooth plastic of his cell phone. "Oshitari-kun's number…what was it again?" he mumbled under his breath, but it wasn't quiet enough to escape the hearing of Niou Masaharu.

In an instant, the cell was ripped out of Yagyuu's unsuspecting hands, and the boy himself was flung against a wall. His wrists were pinned beneath Niou's palms and the younger boy's breath was heavy on Yagyuu's neck.

"Oshitari-kun huh? You and Oshitari-kun have been getting along really well recently, haven't you? You little slut."

"Niou-kun, what's wrong with you?"

"Don't 'Niou-kun' me you whore. I saw you throwing yourself at him on the tennis courts. Did you think it was a secret or something?"

This Niou was unfamiliar to the stunned Yagyuu. Niou had always been brash and confident, and sometimes he lost his temper, but he was never this violent, not to Yagyuu. It was chilling, the cussing, that tone of voice, it sent ripples down the Gentleman's spine and it was only then that he noticed he was trembling.

"L-let me go Niou-kun." Was his voice really that shaky? And why did his knees feel so weak? Since when did Niou have such a terrifying aura? Such a powerful, terrible, presence, so unlike the smiling mischief-maker that Yayuu knew. What happened to him?

"Why, so you can go running to Oshitari-kun like a good little bitch?"

"I said let me go!" Niou was strong. No matter how hard Yagyuu thrashed about, the relentless grip on his wrist held fast. Something solid connected to his jaw and the world started to go fuzzy. It was a curious thing, watching the darkness blur, and as he slipped out of consciousness Yagyuu wondered if this was what it felt like to be a domestic violence victim.

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**_Author's Note: Don't kill Niou. He's already been attacked. No, seriously, he has. Apple Snapple decided on the ending of her story "Clink" after she read this. But don't kill me for writing him either. Niou made me do it. Thank you Rea and Anne~ I still send you love. And thank you Apple Snapple and Eternal .Angel for being my beautiful betas. Only one more part to go!_**


	6. The Broken Road

It wasn't until after the moment had already past and it was too late to even try to fix things that guilt settles in decided Niou as he stared at the limp form of Yagyuu Hiroshi. A livid bruise was forming along his jaw and the bandages around his eyes were mangled. Niou still didn't feel bad for stripping the boy of his sight; he didn't even feel bad for his recent assault. Those were selfish actions, and they must have hurt the formerly bespectacled boy, but Niou didn't care because each and every movement was a ploy to bind Yagyuu's fate more tightly to his own. He had decided that if their red strings of fate were tied to different people, then he would snap the threads and knot them together himself. Guilt ignored Yagyuu's physical wounds, instead striking Niou with the knowledge that he had broken his friend, his love.

When his restraints were first destroyed, Niou had thought that he wouldn't mind dragging Yagyuu down with him into hell. It was better than being tortured with the sight of him forever out of reach, wasn't it? But he hadn't counted on Yagyuu breaking, not in the way he did. The boy had come to consciousness long ago, but he wasn't Yagyuu anymore. He had been replaced by a doll-like creature not at all like the proud boy Yagyuu was. As it turned out, a broken Yagyuu wasn't really Yagyuu at all. He was shattered, just as his glasses were. A thousand shimmering pieces, but none of them would fit together, not anymore.

Niou was no fool. He knew that as he tried to tie himself to Yagyuu, as he tried to fight fate, he was twining the crimson strand around the boy's neck, strangling the person he cared about most. He had ruined Yagyuu beyond repair, and he knew who to blame. Not Oshitari, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself it was the bastard's fault, he knew it wouldn't work. The only person he could blame was himself.

Niou threaded his fingers through the loose strands in Yagyuu's hair, turning his face so that he would look directly into the boy's lifeless eyes that peeked out through the bandages.

"I did it. It's my fault. I'm sorry Yagyuu… I'm sorry…" he whispered. _I broke you and I can't fix you now, no matter how badly I want to__, but… at least you're mine.

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**Author's Note: Well, that's the last part folks! I thank anyone who has actually been following this first multi-chap-ish thing of mine. Anne and Rea really do deserve all of the thanks I'm trying to give them and I give them even more. Anne had to listen to quite a few people bitch about Niou and Rea actually gave me the prompts for this fic set. =D Thanks again to Eternal .Angel and Apple Snapple for beta-ing, and don't shoot them if you hate the ending... I kind of ignored a suggestion or two. -_-" They had conflicting opinions anyway. And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Peri-chan who had to deal with my miserable attempt at angst. This is finally (completely) posted up.**  
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